Tom Hanks and Aaron Eckhart certainly have a fight on their hands for the title but their new film looks a winner either way.
On the 15th of January 2009 disaster struck the US Airways Flight 1549 shortly after take-off when an unfortunate encounter with a flock of birds wound up disabling both engines. Fortunately, the planes captain, Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger managed to pilot the craft to safety by making an emergency water landing in the Hudson river, saving the lives of everyone aboard. Now here in 2016, these events are coming to the big screen in Clint Eastwood’s Sully.
The film stars Tom Hanks as Chesley Sullenberger accompanied by Aaron Eckhart who plays Jeff Skiles, the plane’s co-pilot. Sully also features Laura Linney as Chesley’s wife Lorraine Sullenberger and Anna Gunn, known for Breaking Bad. With Hanks and Eckhart in the lead roles with support by Linney and Gunn there is much to be expected from this film, particularly with Clint Eastwood in the director’s chair.
Still there is a lot more to this movie than the miraculous rescue and amazing moustaches. As the trailer shows, many of the themes deal with the aftermath of the incident which is where I believe the movie will really shine.
In an interview with PEOPLE Eckhart had this to say about Hank’s performance.
While biographical in nature, the film’s screenplay, composed by Todd Komarnicki is largely influenced by the Chesley’s memoir The Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters. The book highlights themes of leadership and responsibility, issues that will no doubt be explored throughout the film.
The film which is being produced by Warner Bros is scheduled for release on September 9th of this year. Until then, take a look at the trailer.
Early thoughts bring to mind Flight starring Denzel Washington.
What do you think? Will this be another true story classic that shines at Oscar time?